Crusher

ABSTRACT

Material, such as cans, is crushed between two moving belts, which are chains with plates attached thereto.

United States Patent Wagley 1451 Sept. 19, 1972 s41 CRUSHER 2,150,984 3/1939 Near/ct ai. ..l00/DIG. 2 G ht Weiss 335%, 75220 2,959,364 11/1960 Anderson 61; al. ..241/200 l 3,106,152 10/1963 c6rfe11...................100/154 x 1 I' 1971 3,223,053 12/1965 Jimenez et al. ........100/154 )1 2 App]. N 149 727 3,468,409 9/1969 Ball [98/165 Prima Examiner-Waiter A. Scheei 521 US. Cl ..100/151, 100/0151. 2, 198/165, g, sxammehphmp Cog [58] FiellloISurchJOO/ISI,152,153.54, DIG. i, IOU/DIG. 2, H8; 241/200, 290, 287, 289;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,967,240 7/ i934 Guest ..24i/289 X 57 ABSTRACT Material, such as cans, is crushed between two moving belts, which are chains with plates attached thereto.

17 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTEB SE! 19 m2 SHEET 1 BF 4 INVENTOR ALLEN WAGLEY PATENTED E I9 SHEET 3 OF 4 INVENTGR a 34 L m w W N E L L A FIG. 9

cnusnsa BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to crushing or flattening compressible or malleable material.

2. Description of the Prior Art Comminuting machines are known which use two traveling belts and a material is comminuted between plates carried on chains. Examples of such machines are Denny, US. Pat. No. l,704,823; Warren, US. Pat. No. l,448,013; and Anderson, US. Pat. No. 2,959,364. Also, Near et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,150,984, has suggested using such a device for flattening sheet metal parts of automobiles such as fenders, hoods, doors and the like.

Disposal of waste material is a growing problem in the United States. Space for sanitary land fills is becoming difficult to obtain. Devices are commercially on the market for compressing household garbage to reduce the bulk in the family garbage can. Automobile service stations have a disposal problem of the cans from which they have dispensed motor oil.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 1. New and Different Function I have developed a machine particularly designed to flatten or crush material to facilitate its disposal. The machine has manifold uses. E.g., one use would be to place the machine at automobile service stations at the point of sale of oil where as soon as the oil can is emptied it is immediately flattened to reduce the storage space required. Also, a crusher would be mounted directly upon trucks gathering garbage from homes and businesses and the garbage is crushed at collection to reduce the space required upon the truck. Another use is to place a large sized crusher at a sanitary land fill and the garbage is flattened and compressed at that point to be disposed of.

The above uses are merely to set out examples and are not meant to be exhaustive.

2. Objects of the Invention An object of this invention is to crush or flatten material.

Further objects are to achieve the above with a device that is sturdy, compact, durable, lightweight, simple, safe, efficient, versatile, and reliable, yet inexpensive and easy to manufacture, install, operate, and maintain.

The specific nature of the invention,as well as other objects, uses, and advantages thereof, will clearly appear from the following description and from the accompanying drawing, the different views of which are not necessarily to the same scale.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a phantom perspective view of a crusher according to this invention with parts broken away for clarity.

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof with parts broken away for clarity.

FIG. 3 is a side sectional view of the two chain assemblies.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view of one chain assembly taken on line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a partial plan sectional view of one chain assembly taken on line 5-5 of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the idler assembly.

FIG. '7 is a perspective view of a crusher plate.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of an alternate form of a crusher plate.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view of the alternate form of the crusher plate taken on line 9-9 of FIG. 8.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The machine has base plate 10. The base plate 10 carries two parallel side supports 11. Main frame 12 is securely attached as by bolts to the side supports 11. The main frame 12 includes two main side plates 14. Specifically, the frame 12 is attached to the side supports 11 by bolts extending through the main side plates 14 into the side supports. The main side plates are parallel to the side supports and are flat against the side supports which are themselves plates. The main side plates are vertically oriented; therefore, normal to the base plate 10, which is horizontally oriented. The main side plates 14 are parallel to one another. Top main shaft 16 is journaled between the two main side plates 14 parallel to the base plate 10. Top sprocket 18 is mounted upon the top main shaft 16 about midway between the two main side plates 14. Bottom main shaft 20 is journaled between the main side plates 14 parallel to the top main shaft 16. Bottom sprocket 22 is mounted on the bottom main shah approximately halfway between the main side plates 14.

Main chain 24 is trained over the top sprocket l8 and the bottom sprocket 22. A series of crushing plates 26 are mounted upon the chain 24. The bottom main shaft 20 is driven to carry the chain 24 is the direction of arrow 0. The bottom main shaft 20 also carries wide rollers 28. The diameter of the rollers 28 is greater than the greatest diameter of the sprocket 22 so although the chain 24 engages the sprocket 22 and is driven thereby, the crushing plates 26 do not drive the chain into the sprocket. I.e., the sprocket drives the chain, but it does not support the chain exerting the crushing pressure, but the wide rollers 28 exert the crushing pressure against the crushing plates 26 and thus to the material to be crushed. Likewise, the top main shaft 16 carries narrow rollers 30. It will be noted that the top shaft does very little crushing; therefore, the pressure is much less, thus it is not necessary to make the narrow rollers 30 so wide to exert as much support for the plates 26. The upper narrow rollers 30 act merely as supports.

There are two runs" of the chain which include the crushing run 32 and the slack run 34, On the crushing run 32, the plates 26 are supported by wear plates 36, which are bolted to backing plates 37. The backing plates are mounted to and between the main side plates 14. Upon the slack run 34, the chain 24 only is supported by idler sprocket 38 joumaled on spindle 40. It will be understood by those skilled in the art that chains stretch in use and therefore, it is necessary to have adjustments so the length of the slack run 34 may be adjusted for the stretch of the chain. The spindle 40 is mounted upon shaft 42. The axis of spindle 40 is offset from the axis of shaft 42 so the two are eccentric.

Therefore, rotation of the shaft 42 will cause the idler sprocket 38 to move toward or away from the crushing run 32. The idler shaft 42 is supported within idler tube 44, which is securely attached to one of the main side plates 14. The idler shaft 42 is normally locked into position against rotation by idler adjustment nut 46.

The bottom main shaft 20 is the drive shaft and therefore, the adjustment is made upon a shaft carrying a sprocket other than the drive sprocket.

The swinging frame 1 12 is supported by the side supports 11. The swinging frame 112 is basically the same size and structure as the fixed or main frame 12 and the terms main frame", main chain" and bottom main shaft are designations used to distinguish and not to indicate importance. The swinging frame 112 includes two swinging side plates 1 14, which are parallel to the side supports 11 and therefore, are also parallel to the main side plates 14.

Top swinging shaft 116 is joumaled between the swinging side plates 114 and is parallel to the top main shaft 16. The top swinging shaft is not only joumaled to the swinging side plates 114, but also is joumaled through bearings 117 carried by the side supports 11 so the top swinging shaft 1 14 is joumaled to the side supports 11 also. Therefore, the swinging frame 112 is joumaled to the side supports coaxially with the top swinging shaft. Inasmuch as the main frame 12 is securely attached by bolting to the side supports 11, it may be expressed that the swinging frame 112 is pivoted to the main frame 12 about the axis of the top swinging shaft 1 16.

Top sprocket 118 is mounted on the top swinging shaft 116 about halfway between the swinging side plates 114. Bottom swinging shaft 120 is joumaled between the swinging side plates 114 parallel to the top main shaft 16. Bottom sprocket 122 is mounted upon the bottom swinging shaft 120 about halfway between the swinging side plates 114. Swinging chain 124 is trained around the top sprocket 118 and the bottom sprocket 122. A plurality of crushing plates 126 are mounted on the swinging chain 124 as shown.

Wide rollers 128 are mounted upon the bottom swinging shaft 120. They support the crushing plates 126 the same as the wide rollers 28 support the crushing plates 26. Narrow rollers 130 are mounted upon the top swinging shaft 1 16, as described above.

The swing chain 124 also has crushing run 132 and slack run 134. Upon the crushing run 132, the crushing plates 126 are supported by wear plates 136 attached between the swinging side plates 114. Idler sprocket 138 is joumaled to spindle 140 which is mounted eccentrically to idler shaft 142 which is joumaled within idler tube 144. The idler tube is attached to one of the swinging side plates 114 and is normally clamped securely in place by idler nut 146, all as described above.

As described above, the swinging frame 112 is mounted for swinging movement about the axis of the top swinging shaft 116. Therefore, the swinging frame is mounted for movement to said main frame 12. Even though they are mounted for movement, it will be noted that the bottom main shaft 20 and the bottom swinging shaft 120 are closer together than the top main shaft 16 and the top swinging shaft 116. Therefore, when material to be flattened is placed into the top of the machine through a convenient opening in the top cover 48, the material to be flattened will be carried down as by conveyor chains and as the space between the crushing run 32 and the crushing run 132 becomes less, the material will be flattened or crushed.

The swinging frame 112 is biased toward the main frame 12 by hydraulic cylinders 50, one cylinder on each side. Springs could be used as the biasing means, but I prefer the hydraulic cylinders with the pressurized gas accumulator 56 inasmuch as in a reasonable working space, the pressure by which the shafts 20 and are biased together may be readily adjusted and, also, it does not increase greatly as the swinging frame 112 swings away to permit a large non-compressible object to pass through. Each hydraulic cylinder is mounted between a convenient bracket 52 mounted upon the side support 11 and a corresponding swinging bracket 152 mounted upon each swinging side plate 114. The cylinders 50 on each side are connected by convenient hydraulic piping 54 to the single accumulator 56. Accumulators such as 56 are well known and are commercially available on the market. I have had good success using a Greer bladder-type accumulator. These accumulators provide for the passage in and out of the hydraulic oil. In addition, they have a cap of compressed gas such as nitrogen under pressure. The gas cap is contained within a bladder so it does not dissolve in the hydraulic oil. Convenient connection is provided so additional compressed gas may be added. Also, pump 58 is mounted upon one of the side supports 11 so additional hydraulic fluid may be pumped into the accumulators. In this way, the pressure by which the bottom shafts 20 and 120 are biased together may be adjusted.

As seen in the drawing, the crushing plates 26 and 126 are on the crushing run 32 and 132 ride against the wear plates 36 and 136 so the chains 24 and 124 act only to move the material to be crushed downward toward the bottom shafts 20 and 120. Therefore, the chains 24 and 124 are not the structural elements which push the crushing plates toward one another, but this function is performed by the wear plates.

The idler run or slack run 34 and 134 could also be called the back side of each chain.

Main motor 60 is mounted on the side supports 11 and is connected by main gear drive 62 to the main bottom shaft 20. Swinging motor is attached by the swinging gear drive 162 to the top swinging shaft 116. Inasmuch as the top swinging shaft is non-translatory, i.e., it is joumaled for rotation to the side supports 11, the swinging motor 116 likewise may be attached to the side support 1 1. However, it is desirable that the swing chain 124 not be driven through the slack run 134 and therefore, the swinging drive chain 164 is used to drive the bottom swinging shaft 120. The swing drive chain 164 is mounted between top swinging drive sprocket 166 and the bottom swinging drive sprocket 168. The top swinging drive sprocket 166 is mounted upon the top swinging shah 116. The bottom swinging drive sprocket 168 is mounted upon the bottom swinging shaft 120. In this way the bottom swinging shaft 120 is driven from the top swinging shaft, but not driven through the the swinging chain 124.

In certain instances, it is desirable to perforate the material being crushed or flattened. There, in such instances, crushing plates 26 and 126 with perforating pips 70 are used. Otherwise, I have had good success providing beads or humps or reverse corregations 72 by merely welding a bead of weld material upon the surface of the crushing plates 26 and 126.

There is conveniently located a source of lubricant in the form of an oil drip 74 mounted upon one side of the machine conveniently attached to one of the side supports 1 1. This oil drip is conveyed by suitable oil tubing to two distributing perforated pipes 76, one of which is in the swinging frame 112 and the other in the main frame 12 so the lubricant in the form of oil drops onto the main chain 24 or swinging chain 124 and also the back of the crushing plates 26 and 126 to lubricate them as they run over the wear plates 36 and 136.

The embodiments shown and described above are only exemplary. I do not claim to have invented all the parts, elements or steps described. Various modifications can be made in the construction, material, arrangement, and operation, and still be within the scope of my invention. The limits of the invention and the bounds of the patent protection are measured by and defined in the following claims. The restrictive description and drawing of the specific example above do not point out what an infringement of this patent would be, but are to enable the reader to make and use the invention.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a crusher having a. a main frame including two main side plates,

b. a top main shaft journaled between the side plates,

c. a top sprocket on the top main shaft,

d. a bottom main shaft journaled between the side plates,

e. a bottom sprocket on the bottom main shaft,

f. a main chain trained over the sprockets,

g. crushing plates on the chain;

h. a swinging frame including two swinging side plates,

j. a top swinging shaft journaled between the swinging side plates,

k. a top sprocket on the top swinging shaft,

m. a bottom swinging shaft joumaled between the swinging side plates,

a bottom sprocket on the bottom swinging shaft,

a swinging chain trained over the sprockets on the swinging shafts.

p. crushing plates on the swinging chain,

. said swinging frame mounted for movement to said main frame,

r. said bottom main and swinging shafts being closer together than said top main and swinging shafts, and

s. means biasing said bottom swinging shaft towards said bottom main shaft;

t. the improvement comprising in combination with the above:

each of said chains positioned about midway between said side plates,

v. said crushing plates extending on either side of each of said chains.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said swinging frame is mounted for movement by w. pivoting the swinging frame about the axis of the top swinging shaft.

3. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. wear plates attached to said main and swinging frames, 5 it. said wear plates being located between the top and bottom shafts, y. said wear plates being located on both sides of said chains, 2. said crushing plates riding on said wear plates between the top and bottom shafts. 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. power means for rotating said bottom main shaft, x. power means for rotating said top swinging shaft,

and y. a top drive sprocket attached to said top swinging shaft. z. a bottom drive sprocket attached to said bottom swinging shaft, and aa. a drive chain interconnecting said top and bottom drive sprockets. 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for biasing the swinging frame includes w. a hydraulic cylinder interconnecting said main and swinging frame, it. said hydraulic cylinder connected to an accumulator, and y. said accumulator containing gas under pressure therein. 6. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of w. pips on said crushing plates for perforating material being crushed. 7. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. tightening means connected to said side plates for tightening said main and swinging chain, and x. power means for rotating each chain operatively connected to one of the shafts carrying each chain, y. said tightening means and power means not directly connected to the same shaft. 8. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and it. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension. 9. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. rollers on each of the bottom shafts on each side of said bottom sprockets, it. said rollers supporting said crushing plates. 10. The invention as defined in claim 9 with the additional limitations of y. tightening means connected to said side plates for tightening said main and swinging chain, and 2. power means for rotating each chain operatively connected to one of the shafts carrying each chain, aa. said tightening means and power means not directly connected to the same shaft. 11. The invention as defined in claim 9 with the additional limitations of y. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and

2. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting to the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension.

12. The invention as defined in claim 9 wherein said swinging frame is mounted for movement by y. pivoting the swinging frame about the axis of the top swinging shaft.

13. The invention as defined in claim 12 with the additional limitations of z. wear plates attached to said main and swinging frames,

as. said wear plates being located between the top and bottom shafts,

bb. said wear plates being located on both sides of said chains,

cc. said crushing plates riding on said wear plates between the top and bottom shafts.

14. The invention as defined in claim 13 with the additional limitations of dd. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and

ee. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting to the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension. 15. The invention as defined in claim 14 with the additional limitations of ff. power means for rotating said bottom main shaft, gg. power means for rotating said top swinging shaft,

and hh. a top drive sprocket attached to said top swinging jj. a bottom drive sprocket attached to said bottom swinging shaft, and kk. a drive chain interconnecting said top and bottom drive sprockets. 16. The invention as defined in claim 15 wherein said means for biasing the swinging frame includes mm. a hydraulic cylinder interconnecting said main and swinging frame, nn. said hydraulic cylinder connected to an accumulator, and 00. said accumulator containing gas under pressure therein. 17. The invention as defined in claim 16 with the additional limitation of pp. pips on said crushing plates for perforating material being crushed.

I t i l l 

1. In a crusher having a. a main frame including two main side plates, b. a top main shaft journaled between the side plates, c. a top sprocket on the top main shaft, d. a bottom main shaft journaled between the side plates, e. a bottom sprocket on the bottom main shaft, f. a main chain trained over the sprockets, g. crushing plates on the chain; h. a swinging frame including two swinging side plates, j. a top swinging shaft journaled between the swinging side plates, k. a top sprocket on the top swinging shaft, m. a bottom swinging shaft journaled between the swinging side plates, n. a bottom sprocket on the bottom swinging shaft, o. a swinging chain trained over the sprockets on the swinging shafts. p. crushing plates on the swinging chain, q. said swinging frame mounTed for movement to said main frame, r. said bottom main and swinging shafts being closer together than said top main and swinging shafts, and s. means biasing said bottom swinging shaft towards said bottom main shaft; t. the improvement comprising in combination with the above: u. each of said chains positioned about midway between said side plates, v. said crushing plates extending on either side of each of said chains.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said swinging frame is mounted for movement by w. pivoting the swinging frame about the axis of the top swinging shaft.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. wear plates attached to said main and swinging frames, x. said wear plates being located between the top and bottom shafts, y. said wear plates being located on both sides of said chains, z. said crushing plates riding on said wear plates between the top and bottom shafts.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. power means for rotating said bottom main shaft, x. power means for rotating said top swinging shaft, and y. a top drive sprocket attached to said top swinging shaft, z. a bottom drive sprocket attached to said bottom swinging shaft, and aa. a drive chain interconnecting said top and bottom drive sprockets.
 5. The invention as defined in claim 1 wherein said means for biasing the swinging frame includes w. a hydraulic cylinder interconnecting said main and swinging frame, x. said hydraulic cylinder connected to an accumulator, and y. said accumulator containing gas under pressure therein.
 6. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitation of w. pips on said crushing plates for perforating material being crushed.
 7. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. tightening means connected to said side plates for tightening said main and swinging chain, and x. power means for rotating each chain operatively connected to one of the shafts carrying each chain, y. said tightening means and power means not directly connected to the same shaft.
 8. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and x. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension.
 9. The invention as defined in claim 1 with the additional limitations of w. rollers on each of the bottom shafts on each side of said bottom sprockets, x. said rollers supporting said crushing plates.
 10. The invention as defined in claim 9 with the additional limitations of y. tightening means connected to said side plates for tightening said main and swinging chain, and z. power means for rotating each chain operatively connected to one of the shafts carrying each chain, aa. said tightening means and power means not directly connected to the same shaft.
 11. The invention as defined in claim 9 with the additional limitations of y. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and z. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting to the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension.
 12. The invention as defined in claim 9 wherein said swinging frame is mounted for movement by y. pivoting the swinging frame about the axis of the top swinging shaft.
 13. The invention as defined in claim 12 with the additional limitations of z. wear plates attached to said main and swinging frames, aa. said wear plates being located between the top and bottom shafts, bb. said wear plates being located on both sides of said chains, cc. said crushIng plates riding on said wear plates between the top and bottom shafts.
 14. The invention as defined in claim 13 with the additional limitations of dd. an idler sprocket on each of the main and swinging frames spaced upon the chain on the backside of each chain, and ee. means for moving the idler sprocket away from the center line connecting to the top shaft and bottom shaft to maintain the chain in proper tension.
 15. The invention as defined in claim 14 with the additional limitations of ff. power means for rotating said bottom main shaft, gg. power means for rotating said top swinging shaft, and hh. a top drive sprocket attached to said top swinging shaft, jj. a bottom drive sprocket attached to said bottom swinging shaft, and kk. a drive chain interconnecting said top and bottom drive sprockets.
 16. The invention as defined in claim 15 wherein said means for biasing the swinging frame includes mm. a hydraulic cylinder interconnecting said main and swinging frame, nn. said hydraulic cylinder connected to an accumulator, and oo. said accumulator containing gas under pressure therein.
 17. The invention as defined in claim 16 with the additional limitation of pp. pips on said crushing plates for perforating material being crushed. 